4. Tenzo

Tenzo found Uchiha Itachi to be an anomaly.

He had been assigned to assess the child by Councilman Danzo but try as he might he couldn't understand what he was meant to report back to the Elder. ROOT soldiers were taught that emotions were a weakness, connections tied you down and relationships only served to further the Village.

On the surface, Itachi was the ideal ROOT soldier. He showed no emotion that was frivolous, had distanced himself from every child at the Academy and even held himself aloof from his genin team and jounin sensei. He showed no love for either his clan or his family and the only fault Tenzo could find was his status in the village as clan heir. Danzo sama would be delighted at the report.

However, Tenzo was a sensor. A brilliant sensor. One so talented that he could pick out emotions from the slightest fluctuation in a person's chakra system and despite the flawless mask the Uchiha heir wore, Tenzo could see right past it.

He could sense the immense well of loyalty inside the pint sized soldier and it grated on his own mask in a way no one had ever done before. His love for the village was so vast that it encompassed most of his being and it quite frankly boggled Tenzo's mind.

What would it be like, he wondered, to feel so powerfully, to love something so unconditionally, to stand for the Village as a defender instead of a tool? It often made Tenzo burn with jealousy to know that the boy was able to experience a love so profound it overcame his thoughts. It twisted at the ROOT operative's caged heart, urging him to see the village the same way Uchiha Itachi did.

And then with the birth of Uchiha Sasuke, the young heir's feeling saw a change. Where there was an unconditional love for the village, there was the large portion of his heart that was entirely for his younger brother. A devotion that settled into his very bones and a protective instinct that ran before his own reflexes, an urge to put his brother's life before his own.

And how that made Tenzo burn with jealousy! Not just once but twice, the boy had found something worthy enough to pledge undying devotion to and Tenzo was still stuck with a heart encased in stone and untempered by emotion.

Years later when Tenzo was out of the emotionless halls of ROOT, he was put on an ANBU team with the boy he had noticed half a decade ago. He didn't think it possible but the fiery adoration had not dimmed in the slightest. If anything it seemed to have grown stronger and he could see the hint of a third object of affection- Uchiha Shisui.

He had gotten so used to ignoring Uchiha Itachi's mask, reading directly the emotions he was feeling that he was hardly bothered by the cold reception Itachi was given. Instead he was doing his best to pull apart the threads of the fascinating mindscape he had finally been able to access.

Then came their first mission. An assassination of some minor lord and Itachi was the one to complete it. He was not in the slightest prepared for the wave of pain that washed over Itachi until he was gasping for breath himself, grateful for the mask he wore to hide his reaction.

Within ROOT, emotions were muted, barely felt past the haze of a mask they had been conditioned with and Tenzo found the numbness soothing. True, Danzo sama often gave off a slight feeling of satisfaction and occasionally irritation but it was never too much. He hadn't had to work with any shinobi outside of ROOT and so when he focussed on Uchiha Itachi he was almost knocked out by the pain in the boy's heart.

Uchiha Itachi, ruthless prodigy, youngest ANBU recruit and one of the most prolific fighters Konoha had ever trained absolutely despised killing.

He couldn't understand it in the slightest and wondered briefly if it was something he was missing because of his upbringing within ROOT.

So he turned to the source.

Or rather he turned to the rest of the team. After training, he held them back, knowing that Kakashi wouldn't come to a meeting on time and posed his dilemma, keeping Itachi's name out of it.

He received several reasons but none from Itachi. It wasn't until everyone but Kakashi had left and turned to their newest member and asked his opinion that he spoke.

"Sometimes," he said. "Sometimes it's the only way to help the ones you love. Once you reach a certain level of skill, it's not a matter of 'do you want to do it?' anymore, just a certainty because if it comes to you that easily then it must mean you enjoy it."

"There is always a choice, Itachi kun." Kakashi had replied slightly stilted.

"Like I said Kakashi sempai, sometimes it's the only way to help the ones you love."

Two years later, when he was chasing Itachi through the village after he had supposedly murdered his entire clan in a single night, he couldn't help but remember those words and the tired determination that had shone out of dark eyes.

And if he looked deeper, the loyalty towards the village still burning brightly even as he ran from it.

Kakashi sempai had said that those who abandoned their teammates were worse than trash, that loyalty begets loyalty and Konoha takes care of her own. Why then was the most loyal man he had ever met running from the village he had given his everything too? Why was Uchiha Itachi not worthy of the loyalty he deserved?

He slowed down enough that Itachi could escape, with love now tempered with grief and pain so violent it burned to even imagine. When he returned to report his failure, he was just in time to hear the man be declared missing nin and murderer.

It was laughable to see the most loyal man he had ever seen be declared traitor, to see the most pacifistic man he knew be declared murderer but Tenzo was a tool of the village and so he stayed silent. Later he would look deeper, find anomalies and share his suspicions but at that moment he could only watch as Itachi's chakra signature moved further and further away from the village until it reached outside his sensing range.

In the back of his mind he knew that Itachi would break down later, like he had for every person he killed. He would let guilt suffuse that undeniable devotion but he knew for certain that loyalty would always be in the forefront of his mind.

Because Uchiha Itachi had always loved far too powerfully and somehow Konoha had earned his loyalty.

He would do his best to prove it even if it felt wrong to think against his Hokage's words. Even if it went against the teachings he had been raised with. Even if it was not what a tool should do.

After all, sometimes it's the only way to help the ones you love.

AN- I hope I managed to capture Tenzo's mindset properly. I want him to not be able to understand emotion and be captivated by someone else's.Also Mokuton is supposed to be closest to nature chakra which I headcanon helps in sensing.Leave a review or favourite if you enjoyed. Thanks for reading!~Teapoon~Teaspoon